


Pilot and Mechanic

by MagpieWords



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Iron Man 1, M/M, physical health issues, very minor angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-09 03:47:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20485682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagpieWords/pseuds/MagpieWords
Summary: The slow kiss jolted apart and Tony gave a manic grin. “You.”“Me?”"You’re a pilot and you’re the only person I trust with my tech. You’re perfect.”A retelling of Iron Man 1, where Tony breaks his legs when he lands in the desert and Rhodey pilots the Mark III.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For the Tony Stark Bingo, square S1: a still from the MCU of Tony sitting underneath the torso of the armor while he works on it.

The only thing he could think to do was burn everything. Burn the entire camp and everyone in it. The weapons cache caught fire and the explosion was like every fourth of July since the 16th century rolled into one horrible moment. The thrusters were hardly designed to lift him off the ground for a few feet, for a few seconds. Combined with the blast, he rocketed into the sky in a glorified box of scrap metal.

And it was the most amazing feeling. Yes, death and destruction were literally in his wake, inexplicable loss and painful truths shoved into just three months that managed to feel like several lifetimes. But he was flying. Or falling, honestly, he wasn’t sure, _but it didn’t matter_. The sky rushed by him. The endless desert was a speck below. Everything about this was freedom, raw power in a way even someone as powerful as Tony Stark had never experienced. He wondered if maybe this is why Rhodey said he could never leave the Air Force.

Then, like the myths everyone had always compared him too, Tony flew too close to the sun. Reached too far for everything he hadn’t even realized he needed, and he was falling for sure. Power and freedom turned to cold fear as he was dragged down by the metal.

He didn’t remember the crash. He didn’t remember getting up. There was blinding light and an angel that looked like his husband scooped him out of the sand.

He woke somewhere over the Atlantic. The plane was small, just him and Rhodey in the back. “Where…”

“We’re almost home. Go back to sleep.”

Tony shook his head. His arms felt weighted but he reached up to hold onto Rhodey’s shirt. “Missed you.”

The sound Rhodey made was almost laughter, thick with tears, but hopeful nonetheless. “Missed you too, Tones. Next time you ride with me, okay?”

Tony nodded, then his grip went slack and Rhodey let him drift back to sleep. When he woke up next, he was still in Rhodey’s arms. Their plane had landed and the large cargo door was opening. Someone offered a wheelchair but Rhodey waved it away. He lifted Tony like he did on their wedding day, and maybe it was the cocktail of drugs Tony could feel swimming through his bloodstream, but he couldn’t help but laugh.

Pepper was waiting for them on the tarmac. “Aw, Miss Potts, tears for your long lost boss?”

“Tears of joy.” She walked with them, sliding into the passenger seat next to Happy as Rhodey and Tony sat in the back. “One more minute of Colonel Rhodes moping at me and I was going to quit. You know I hate job hunting.”

“I wasn’t moping.”

“Sure you weren’t, honey bear.”

“Tony, now that you’re back, we’re going to need to--”

“Nope. Sorry, Pep. I already got the plan. I’ve been gone for three months so the only two things I want are an American cheeseburger and—”

“You and Colonel Rhodes will have plenty of time later to—”

“No, not that.” Tony cut in again. “Well, okay, yes that, but later. Most important thing, I need you to call a press conference.”

“A press conference?” Pepper twisted around to look at him.

“Yeah. Like, now.”

“James and I can tell the press that you’re—“

“No, I—” Tony squeezed his eyes shut. It was already hard to focus on anything; trying to hold a coherent sentence together felt impossible. “I have something I need to say. Live, in person. It has to come from me. Today. _Now_.” Before he thought about it too long and realized how crazy this decision was. Before someone talked him out of it.

“Tony, no.” Rhodey said softly, putting a hand on Tony’s thigh. “In a few days, sure. But right now you can’t walk, you’re barely conscious.”

Tony’s eyes fluttered open, looking down at the hand on his leg. “Actually, other most important thing. Why can’t I feel my legs?”

Pepper and Rhodey shared a look, both hesitating. But it was Rhodey who told him. Told him how much damage his body had taken, falling from the sky with a trail of fire that led the search team right to him. How even the best doctors in the world couldn’t do any more for his recovery. How the best doctors in the world were at a loss against unknown nature of the metal in his chest.

“It’s not unknown. I know exactly what it does,” Tony whispered. The car had moved. They were somewhere different but he wasn’t sure where. The fog around his head cleared, only to cloud his lungs. “Pep, I still need to—”

“Okay.” She conceded, phone pressed against her chest. They were outside a venue, a crew already setting up for them. When did she call people? “Tony, whatever you’re going to say...” This wasn’t her ‘please don’t upset PR’ voice. This was something different, but he couldn’t dedicate enough energy to figuring out what it was. “Whatever you need say, it must be really important. I…” She looked at Rhodes, who nodded. “We support you.” 

The next round of painkillers made him feel less like a human bruise. They didn’t fog his mind, but they didn’t make it easier to breath. He and Rhodey sat on the hastily constructed stage, beneath a cheap podium, waiting as the press filled into the small room Pepper had found. He was amazed by how quiet everything was; no unprompted questions, no chatter. No interruptions as he spoke from the floor, barely able to whisper.

“And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries.”

The explosion of noise that followed would have knocked him off his feet if he were able to stand. Rhodey must have gotten them away because the next time Tony opened his eyes, he was back at home. “We… We did the press conference, right?”

“Yeah, Tones.” Rhodey was curled around him, and that was nice, but his body had returned to a state of unignorable pain. “Obie’s furious. You’re lucky you passed out before his call came in.”

“Mmm, think I’ll pass back out before the next call comes in.” He buried his face in Rhodey’s shoulder. Everything hurt, but it was okay if he could still do this.

“Pepper’s pretty mad too, but… I think she meant what she said in the car.”

“Hm?”

“She… We, both of us, we’re behind you all the way, baby. But…” Rhodey sighed, his grip on Tony tightening just barely. “What’s the plan from here, Tony?”

There wasn’t really a plan. There was a first step and a last step. Everything else he was still figuring out. The only thing that really made sense though, the only thing he could think of that was even the start of a solution, was getting back in the sky.

“Trust me, James.”

“I always do.”

The next six weeks were uneventful, compared to the rest of his life, but they were probably as chaotic as they could be for someone under medical house arrest. Obie got his call in. When that didn’t work to change Tony’s mind, he came in person. Pepper made sure that shut down weapons production stayed shut down, then came over every night with a new rotation of doctors and physical therapists. Rhodey never left Tony’s side. The medicine ruined his appetite, the nightmares ruined his sleep, but Rhodey never wavered. His lungs never stopped burning, and even once he was strong enough for crutches, he could only stand for a moment before dizziness overtook him.

“Trust me, Tones?” Rhodey would joke, every time he caught his husband, like it was a trust fall instead of a collapse. And even when every inch of him hurt, when his breaths were short and his brain was scrambled, Tony could smile.

“I always do.”

Every day felt a little easier. So when one day started with Tony’s side of the bed empty and his crutches missing, Rhodey wasn’t surprised. Padding across the house, he found the crutches abandoned at the top of the stairs to the workshop. Every day was easier, but taking the crutches down the stairs was still a problem. Which had worked out well for the first few weeks, since Tony wasn’t supposed to work with his health in the state it was. But Rhodey had seen blueprints on every screen Tony got his hands on, even as his husband’s eyes went blurry under the haze of medicine. It was only a matter of time before he dragged himself downstairs.

“Jarvis, how exactly…” Literally dragged himself, Rhodey amended, watching the video feed of his husband slowly scoot his butt down every step to the workshop at three o’clock that morning. “Isn’t it your job to let me know when he’s doing something stupid?”

“Sir, if I alerted you of every time Mr. Stark did something stupid, I would never cease alerting you.”

Rhodey snorted. He could swear he heard amusement as Jarvis sighed through the air vents. “Besides, I only have override permissions to inform you when Mr. Stark is endangering himself. If he requires my secrecy for something that has yet to be dangerous, I’m afraid I cannot inform you.”

Rhodey’s laughter died down, but a small smile remained. “Very clever, Jarvis.” Only an AI built by someone as smart as Tony would be smart enough to bypass his creator’s own instructions. Unfortunately, Rhodey wasn’t surprised to learn that Tony was working on something secret that would probably be dangerous. Disappointed, but not surprised.

He’d actually come to like the idea that Stark Industries would stop building weapons. Focusing on more humanitarian efforts had always been Tony’s passion, destruction was just something he happened to be good at too. Obie’s near daily pressuring must have gotten through. Again, disappointing, but not surprising.

Carrying the crutches with him, Rhodey went downstairs, but waited just outside the threshold of the glass doors. It was rare that he was able to watch Tony work; their schedules didn’t often align, and when they did they usually didn’t spend it working. There was something magical about this, the way Tony moved about the space, directing his bots to work with him to create something unimaginable. Even though he was swivelling about in a half-broken office chair, yelling at DUM-E only in bursts as he paused to gasp for air, it was still beautiful.

And what he was building was just as unimaginable.

“Genius waits for no man, huh?” Rhodey let the crutches rest against the wall, crossing into the space.

Tony turned around so fast, he nearly fell out of the chair. “Rhodey!” His grin was infectious, stealing Rhodey’s attention back from staring at the latest Stark design. Tony held out his arms and Rhodey didn’t hesitate to close the distance between them.

“Genius has waited long enough. You came at literally the perfect time. Here, measure my leg.” He shoved a fabric tape measure in Rhodey’s hands.

“What?”

“Jarvis is being a brat and wont give me my measurements. And I can’t really... “ He tapped on the arc reactor, a nervous habit Rhodey had watched develop over the past few weeks. “It’s hard to bend far enough,” he barely whispered before sucking in a ragged breath and forcing a grin up at Rhodey. “But now you’re here! So, what’s the circumference of my calf? I’m pretty sure I can make the main thrusters a little more streamlined.”

“Thrusters?” Rhodey didn’t move to measure him. He was close to the project now, able to look at it a little more closely. With the bright red and gold, he’d secretly been hoping it was a strange art piece for Pepper, or maybe a collaboration with Janet Van Dyne’s next clothing line. This wasn’t even just weaponry for soldiers - it was armor for Tony. Sure the shoulders were bigger, but all the other measurements added up to a torso designed to wrap around his husband’s fragile body. “Tony, no.”

“Tony, yes! Come on, this is like the coolest thing I’ve ever built. Way more stable than the first one.”

“First one?” Rhodey couldn’t look away, trapped staring at this new metal horror.

“Well yeah, how do you think I got out of a terrorist cell by exploding into the sky?”

Rhodey turned and Tony’s smile dropped when he saw his husband’s face. “Don’t you trust me?”

“Tony, this is different.”

“It really isn’t.”

“No, Tony--”

“Yes! Yes, Tony. I’m already doing this. You can’t stop me, Jarvis can’t stop me, Obie can’t stop me. I built something incredible and I can finally help people!”

“Tony, we talked about this,” Rhodey tried, but Tony steamrolled passed, pushing his chair over to his keyboard and collection of monitors.

“This isn’t smartphones and charity donations! This is bigger. This is direct action. This-- This is what I should have been doing all along. I can’t waste my life. This is what I’m meant to do.” His voice cracked and then he started coughing. A wet, nauseating sound both of them had come to dread.

Rhodey closed the distance between them again, rubbing circles along Tony’s back as he relearned how to breath. “I thought you didn’t believe in destiny,” he whispered.

“I don’t,” Tony’s voice was hoarse, but unwavering. “It’s just… Finally, someone other than Howard and his yes men told me what I should do with my life. You would have liked him…”

“Who?”

For a long time, Tony didn’t respond. If James didn’t have his hand on Tony’s back, he would have worried his husband had stopped breathing. The workshop was silent, no machines whirring as Tony stayed slumped over. Neither of them were sure how much time had passed, but Tony put his hands on his knees and pushed himself to sit up.

“James.” He winced as he reached back for Rhodey’s hand, but seemed to relax once their fingers were entwined. He looked up, eyes swimming with barely held tears. “Trust me?”

“I always do.” He didn’t even need to think about. If Tony believed in this, wanted it this badly, Rhodey would never deny him.

The tears spilled over and Tony looked at him like he’d hung the moon. It felt impossible to say no to that face, but Rhodey pushed forward.

“One condition.” Tony narrowed his eyes, but didn’t protest. “You’re not piloting this thing.”

“I’ve already flown it,” Tony pointed out. He was skeptical, but he wasn’t shouting yet.

“No, you crashed in the desert. Whatever that was, it wasn’t flying. And now, you aren’t--”

“Don’t you dare--”

“The stress from a successful flight would be detrimental. And whatever you’re planning with all the guns you’ve been building--”

“I do not build guns anymore. They are defensive capabilities in order to--”

“--unacceptable for a civilian to go into whatever you’re planning--”

“--three months in a hostile situation, I think I can handle--”

“--and thrusters on your legs? How are you going to--”

“This is bullshit!” Tony shoved his chair away, creating enough distance so they stopped talking over each other. “You and Pepper and, for fuck’s sake, even Jarvis! You all think I’m broken!”

“No we don’t, but your fucking legs are!” 

“I will figure it out!” The last word was ripped from his jaws, ragged, before Tony doubles over coughing again.

When they first became friends, nearly two decades ago, shouting matches were common. Over the years, they’d learned to balance each other. It didn’t always work, they still fought and screamed and acted childishly. But since Tony had gotten back, neither of them had raised their voice. The loudest thing in the house had been shouting down the hall about what to order for dinner. Even that was muted, careful of Tony’s damaged lungs. Hearing his husband at full volume, it was almost a homecoming. But the way it ripped at his ruined throat... It tore at Rhodey’s heart the same way it broke Tony back down to a whisper. “I wanted to figure it out _with_ you, but if you’re not on my team then get out.”

“Tony…”

“No. No! Don’t ‘Tony’ me. There is nothing else, James. There is the next mission and nothing else.”

“Mission?” Rhodey stepped closer, but Tony ignored his question.

“My legs will heal.” He didn’t mean it as a question, but the desperation creeping into his voice made it sound like one.

“Of course they will,” Rhodey whispered. “And when they do, we’ll talk about this again.”

Tony sighed, resting his head against Rhodey’s stomach. Their hands twined back together. “I blew up one cave, James. There are hundreds more. Hundreds more with my weapons in their hands. The world can’t wait until my legs heal.”

“The world does not rest on your shoulders.” Rhodey pushed the office chair across the workshop, letting Tony lean on him until they reached the couch shoved into the corner. Pepper had insisted on it when she first started; if she couldn’t get her boss out of his lab to sleep, she’d bring sleep to the lab. It usually took two months for Tony to burn through an assistant, but in that first week, Rhodey knew Pepper was here to stay.

Tony hardly needed Rhodey’s support to move from the chair to the couch, his arms returned to their usual physique after recovering from three months of malnutrition. Once settled, he leaned against Rhodey and they curled together on the worn fabric.

“I need to do this,” he whispered into Rhodey’s shoulder.

“I won't let you get yourself killed trying to do it.”

“I shouldn’t even be alive.”

Rhodey kissed his husband’s forehead, trying not to fall back into a thousand nights of memories where Tony had talked him through the same kind of survivor’s guilt. It was hard to be stuck in the past when he was married to a futurist. “How about remote piloting?”

He could feel Tony smile against his shoulder. “There’s potential.” The smile faltered. “I’d need to redesign the current code and renetwork the satellite system. It’s definitely too slow right now for reactions in live combat.”

“Not impossible. Should be done faster than your legs will heal.” This was good. Back on the same page, working together. Tony may be the world renowned engineer, but Rhodey didn’t go to MIT for nothing.

“Yeah, but we’re still looking at another couple of months. I don’t have that kind of time.”

“Hey,” Rhodey pushed gently at Tony’s shoulders, getting him to lean back far enough so they could properly look at each other. “Don’t talk like that.”

“The doctors have no idea--”

“But I do. You’ve got poisonous metal powering a science fair project right next to your heart.”

Tony’s face scrunched together and Rhodey couldn’t fight down a smile at how cute it was. “How’d you know?”

“Because I’ve listened to you talk about arc reactor technology for the past twenty years.” He let himself give in the childish impulse and poked Tony’s nose. That only made Tony’s face scrunch up further as he laughed.

“You sure true love can’t fix my broken heart?” Tony leaned in for a kiss and Rhodey let him.

“It’s a good start,” he whispered against Tony’s lips. “Have you started looking at other metals?”

“A few.” Tony kept kissing him between words. It had been a while since they made out while working together. Rhodey missed this. “Got distracted with titanium to build the suit. I’ve got time to rebuild the reactor. I need a pilot now.”

The slow kiss jolted apart as Tony leaned back, eyes wide with a manic grin. “You.”

“Me?”

“You’re my pilot.”

“Wait, what?” He must have missed a step, distracted by scientific sexy talk and the press of Tony’s lips. Whatever heat Tony had built between them was gone, and he busied himself in trying to push to his feet.

“Fuck!” Tony scrambled, grabbing onto the back of the swivel chair and managing to sit down before his legs gave out. “I’m good!” He pushed off the couch and rocketed back towards his desk.

“Hun, come on.” Rhodey sighed, but got up from the couch to follow.

“You’re a pilot and you’re the only person I trust with my tech. You’re perfect.” His fingers flew across the custom keyboard, render schematics appearing on the holodisplays. “I’ll need to adjust the height a little bit, but the other dimensions should be fine. Gonna need to make another power source… Jarvis, thoughts?”

“I much prefer this plan to you using your own heart as a battery, sir.” The AI sounded pleased.

“You were going to do what?” Rhodey didn’t even want to think about that.

“Colonel Rhodes is a trustworthy individual,” Jarvis continued, “I’ll scan you his measurements now.”

“Thanks J.”

“Uh, yeah, thanks Jarvis. But Tony, wait.” And just like that everything paused. Tony looked up from his designs, focused on his husband. “You want me to just quit my job and, what? Be a vigilante?”

“Yes? Sort of a step up from being my house husband doing...” Tony paused for a second, trying to figure out what domestic life actually entailed “Ironing?”

“You know vigilantism is illegal, right?”

“Nothing’s illegal when you’re rich.” Rhodey frowned. “Alright, fine, whatever. You’re the Stark Industries’ liaison, right? You’ve been keeping me from doing anything illegal for years.”

“I can’t just quit the Air Force.”

“Okay.” And Tony picked up a screwdriver and went back to the armor.

That was too easy. “Okay?” 

“Sourpatch, your job is important to you. I’d never ask you to give up something like that if you didn’t want to. Besides,” Tony grinned out from under the torso of the metal suit. “I was kind of looking forward to being the hero.”

“Vigilante.”

“Same thing.”

“No, not the same thing. And who says you wouldn’t be the hero just by building this?”

Tony’s head was fully inside the hollow suit now, echoing out. “Well, I’d just be your mechanic.”

“I thought you had whole missions planned out.” Rhodey said and Jarvis pulled up more schematics- maps and battle plans and long term operations. “You’re running the show here.”

“You’d be the one pulling the trigger.”

“Any idiot can pull a trigger.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Tony pretended to muse. Rhodey could hear it, the slight falsetto, but he could feel himself taking the bait. “I could get any idiot to do it.”

“No, hold on.” Rhodey grabbed the arm rests of the chair, pulling Tony out to meet his eyes. He was already grinning. They both knew the discussion was over before it began. “I’m your idiot.”

“So you’ll do it?”

“Fuck,” Rhodey looked away, back at the battle plans and the in-depth look at Stark Industries’ history. He looked back at Tony, who was still grinning. “Yeah, I’ll do it.”

Tony leaned up, arms flexing against the chair to reach Rhodey’s face to kiss him. “Thank you.”

“But part time though!” Rhodey protested as he followed Tony back down, kissing between words again. “I’m not quitting my job.”

“I can work with that.” Tony’s hands keep pulling Rhodey down, until he’s straddling the chair. “Besides, once my legs heal, I’ll be full time.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Why Gulmira?” Even as he asked, Rhodey was still suiting up. Tony paced around him, haphazardly balancing on his crutches with a tablet in hand.

“It’s important, I’ll explain later.” More of the armor clicked into place and Tony ran his hands over the metal. “There’s a good number of civilians, so you’ll have to be clever.”

“You going to be in my ear?”

“Me and Jarvis, yeah.”

“Dream team,” Rhodey grinned and Tony gave a weak smile back. “What, are you worried about me?”

“No! This armor is flawless! They could drop a nuke on you and you’d be fine.”

“Mhm,” Rhodey grinned. The metal around him felt good. Working with Tony like this felt good. “Give me a kiss for good luck anyway?”

The faceplate snapped into place and he saw Tony kiss that instead. “How about a victory kiss when you get home?”

“Sounds good.” They’d done test flights, test shooting, but it was nothing like this. Rhodey flew halfway around the globe faster than an SR-71. He blew up a tank and not a single civilian was collateral, all with Tony is his ear. The entire flight home was cheering and debriefing and the second he landed in the garage, Tony was peeling off the faceplate.

“How about we turn this victory kiss into something a little more fun?”

Rhodey laughed and nodded. Everything had gone perfectly, until the armor got stuck. 

“Hm, looks like the fight messed with some of the interlocking components…” Tony mused, picking up a screwdriver and sliding under the armor. His poking and prodding seemed fine until he stuck in a little too close on the ancillary thrusters on Rhodey’s thigh.

“Ow! Watch it!”

“That is a tight fit, huh?” He rolled out from under the suit, pushing up on his crutch. He was already slick with grease somehow, leering as he pulled Rhodey into a kiss. It was almost distracting enough to ignore the metal that dug into his hip as Jarvis tugged at the armor. Almost.

“Ah!”

“Honey bear, the more you struggle the more this is going to hurt.”

Rhodey couldn’t help but laugh. “Be gentle, it’s my first time.”

“I did design this to come off…” Tony mumbled against his lips as he and Jarvis pulled in different directions at the same time.

“Ow! Hey!” Rhodey’s leg jerked up, knocking over one of Tony’s crutches. A gauntleted hand came up to catch his hip as he started to fall, pulling him flush with the armor as the thigh piece finally came off.

“What’s going on here?” They both turned to find Pepper standing at the threshold of the lab.

“Let’s face it, this is not the worst thing you’ve caught us doing.” Tony lifted his other leg, straddling Rhodey’s now exposed hips.

“This might actually be one of the better things you’ve caught us doing,” Rhodey tried, ignoring the blush he could feel burning over his face.

“I’m pretty sure the doctors did not clear you for work yet.” Pepper’s heels clicked along the concrete as she got a closer look at the armor. “And I’m pretty sure this is not Air Force approved, Colonel.”

Tony slid off the armor, leaning on one crutch. “Pep--”

“No. I don’t want to hear it.” She held up a hand and Tony fell silent. She looked between the armor’s power source and Tony’s chest, but her gaze landed on Rhodey’s face. “Rhodes, I thought you said you were fixing this.”

“I am!”

“Fixing what?”

“We’re not talking to you right now, Tony.”

“Well, you’re talking about me.”

“Pepper, we’re working on it.”

“Don’t ‘Pepper’ me.”

“Do you two talk about me when I’m not around?”

“Of course we do, Tony.”

“Virginia,” Rhodey tried again. “Tony is going to be fine. Tones, tell her about our new element.”

“Oh, right. Rhodey and I are building a particle accelerator!” He gestured to the half demolished wall on the side of the workshop.

“Why?” He could practically see the headache blooming around Pepper’s temples.

“Well, the doctors haven’t cleared me for long distance travel yet, so I can’t exactly go to CERN.” He reached to pick up his other crutch, making his way back over to his desk as Jarvis removed the rest of the armor from Rhodey.

“I’m pretty sure they haven’t cleared you for major construction or coordinated combat with you husband either, Tony.” She followed him across the lab, stepping over pieces of debris. As he pulled up different schematics, her eyes tracked the designs. “I thought we weren’t building weapons anymore.”

“We’re not. This is different.”

“Tony, this doesn’t look different.”

Rhodey made his way off the loading platform and put a hand on Pepper’s shoulder. She relaxed under the touch and looked at him. Her gaze was still sharp. “This doesn’t look like it’s being fixed.”

“Miss Potts, Tony and I are…” There was a better way to put this, something more professional than a comic book dream spiraled out of control. “Tony saw something, when he was gone. There’s a problem, that Stark Industries was involved with, that he’s able to fix. I’m just reaching the shelves he’s not tall enough for yet.”

“Asshole,” Tony grinned at him, looking only seconds from kissing him again.

Pepper was still skeptical, wasn’t bothering to hide that from her expression. “Tony?” She prompted and Tony sat up a little straighter.

“Miss Potts, all the heavy lifting is being done by Jarvis and Rhodey. My physical health isn’t at risk- if anything I’m getting better. And last I checked, Stark Industries is up five percent.”

“Five percent from the ninety points you tanked us,” she pointed out, but he could see the start of a smile sneaking up on her. “And when you’re done getting better?”

“Then Rhodey goes back to full liaison work.”

She arched a brow and looked at Rhodey. He shrugged. That had always been the plan.

“That seems counterproductive.” She walked around the two of them, eyes darting across the hundreds of holographic screens around the lab. Neither Tony nor Rhodey dared to make a sound. It was only when she finally turned back towards them, smiling openly across her face, that they relaxed. “I’ve seen no drop in your liaison work during this venture. In fact, having two operatives would definitely increase your productivity. My question for both of you is this,” she pulled out her phone and pushed a video file onto one of the displays. The end of a fight, bullets riddling holes in the side of a car. People were screaming, but the on site reporter stated there were no deaths. They’d been pleased with that one. Yet the reporter speaking over the footage seemed terribly gleeful at the idea of the police tracking down a rogue vigilante.

“Super hero,” Rhodey muttered and Tony didn't bother resisting the urge to kiss him. Rhodey went easily when Tony grabbed a fistful of his shirt collar, only pulling away when Pepper cleared her throat.

“Gentlemen, we need to get a hold on the Iron Man press before someone else does.”

“Iron Man?” Tony frowned. He hadn’t really named the project yet but that was a gross misattribution of the materials in the armor. He opened his mouth to say just that but Pepper held up a hand.

“I don’t care what it’s made of. The news has already labeled you. Half the population thinks you’re, I don’t know, whatever new age Captain America knock off you were trying to be. But a lot of people, most importantly the federal government, think you’re terrorists.”

Rhodey’s hand had found its way into Tony’s after their kiss, but his grip tightened now. Tony hadn’t looked away from Pepper, but she must have seen whatever expression crossed Rhodey’s face.

“I know,” she said gently. “They don’t know who you are yet, so there’s not a lot of immediate risk, but it’s only a matter of time.”

“We need a plan,” Tony muttered, moving to stand but Pepper put a heavy hand on his shoulder.

“I already have one.”

He cocked his head, but found himself smiling. He shouldn’t be surprised - Pepper always had a plan. “Well?”

She pulled over one of the chairs loose in the lab and sat with Tony, one leg crossed over the other. Her expression was sobering, full business mode, but she couldn’t hide the sparkle in her eyes. Tony didn’t even need to hear the pitch at this point; he already knew he’d say yes.

“I want in.” She held up a hand before Tony could make the same joke he always did. “On the Iron Man project. I don’t want to find out about this through the newsreels anymore.”

“Pep, we don’t always have time to bring this to committee. Sometimes we just have to head out.” Rhodey had hopped up to sit on a desk, but his hand never left Tony’s.

“Of course. I wouldn’t expect you to ask me for approval. But I expect a text when one of you takes off.”

“So you can be ahead of the press. You’ll manage our PR,” Tony finished the thought for her.

“Exactly,” she grinned. “I’d also like to know mission details when you have them. We need to discuss legal operations on an international level.”

“I’ve been well aware of the legal parameters of our actions, Pepper.” Rhodey took his hand from Tony in order to cross his arms.

Pepper frowned. “James, I’m not saying—”

“I kind of think you are.”

“Well, you’re both technically acting outside of government interest which voids any sort of authorizations you had when you were working with the Air Force.” She went to pull up a holodisplay but Rhodey swiped it away before it could load.

“I know that.”

“Wait, what? Babe, I thought you said we were good.”

“We are, Tones. I know what lines we’re crossing and they’re not any with significant legal or international ramifications.”

“For now,” Pepper said. “You and Tony should be focused on the battle. Let me handle the fine print.”

There was a tense moment and Tony could only watch as Pepper and Rhodey stared each other down. They seemed to come to some sort of consensus though, and Pepper blinked first. “James, I think you should tell the military what you’re doing.”

Another tense silence. “Pep, if I go down—“ Rhodey stopped himself with a sigh. “Yeah, no, you’re right.”

“I don’t want the military with their hands on this,” Tony said and Pepper nodded.

“I know. They’re going to try, but I think we’re prepared to handle that.” She spoke with such confidence. Tony could turn on that kind of charm when he needed to, but Pepper, she was just naturally like that. She always knew what to do. Tony opened his mouth, to agree, to bring her in on their next mission, to something. But his lungs got the better of him. They weren’t as bad as before, but Pepper still looked concerned. Rhodey was helping him through basic breathing exercises when Jarvis spoke up.

“I’m very sorry, Sirs and Ma’am. But Mr. Stane is being rather insistent and I wonder if this message he’s passed along might be relevant to your conversation.”

Tony waved a hand and a large holodisplay with Obie’s face filled the air in front of them. “Tony! I knew you weren’t up for another board meeting, but this one was important. You really would have been great to have there.”

“You skipped another meeting?” Rhodey sounded disappointed and Pepper wasn’t far behind.

“He told me he was come directly to pick you up. Tony, how did you even get out of that?”

“What? No, he didn’t— I would have gone!”

“Yeah,” Rhodey said, “you should have. I support you changing the company but you need to be there to—“

“Of course! Rhodey, I didn’t skip.”

“If you really weren’t up for it, I could have—“

“I’m fine!” Tony stood, trying to ignore his white knuckles along his crutch. He turned away from the video, facing his team. Something wasn’t right here. Jarvis had lowered the volume a while ago but he could hear Obie rambling about injunctions and new developments. “No one told me there was a meeting.”

Pepper rolled her eyes. “How many times have any of us come down here to get you, only for—“

“No! Listen to me!” He had to stop yelling or he was going to lose his breath before he figured out the point he was trying to get to. Behind him, Obie was still talking, words echoing in Tony’s skull. He was always saying one thing and meaning another, but this time there was something more. If Tony could just figure it out. “He never came down here. Jarvis, confirm that.”

“No one entered the workshop between the three hours before and after the time Mr. Stane is suggesting in the video.”

“Jarvis, take back the video twenty-eight seconds.” The video stopped, and a previous frame took over.

“You really need to get out and look around. Don’t think we don’t all see it. This Iron Man is better than anything we could ever hope for.” Tony held up a hand and the video stopped. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for the others to follow.

“I mean,” Pepper started, “he’s right. Other companies are going to try to replicate that tech.”

“They can’t do what we can do.” Rhodey’s confidence was wonderful but not the point.

“No. I mean, yes, but why is he focused on that? Obie has never cared about… about big ideas like this. He wants new, yes, he wants better, but smaller. Faster and meaner. Iron Man isn’t his style. It’s bombastic. It’s...” He held back the word ‘mine’, but only just barely. Iron Man, or whatever it was called, it wasn’t just his. It was theirs. “Anyway, our kill count isn’t high enough for Obie. He isn’t even interest in tech. Which one of you told him about the reactor anyway? Because I know it wasn’t Happy.”

“I have never willing been alone with him, you know that.” Rhodey looked hurt at the accusation, but only for a moment. It was quickly replaced with the fear Tony had been feeling for a while now. They both looked at Pepper, but already knew her answer.

“I’d never trust him enough with something like that.”

“We shouldn’t trust him with anything else either.” Tony concluded and the weight of the words hovered thick in the air only for a second before Pepper was moving.

“I’m going to investigate, we need evidence. We need to know how—“

Rhodey was pulling out his phone and already setting up a conference with his superiors. “We need to do this face to face. Tony, I want you there with me. This is both of us—“

The next twenty-four hours passed exactly like that. Action and reaction, each discovery they made worse than the last. The feeling of losing the reactor was nothing compared to the feeling of almost losing his heart, his Rhodey. The mangled Iron Man armor, dangling above the massive electroconductor at the office, screaming for Pepper to pull the switch. Tony couldn’t watch, but he had to look through the broken eyes of the crumpled helmet to aim the last of the missiles at Rhodey’s feet. The explosion left them all rattled and Tony felt like he was still trying to remember how to breathe even when Rhodey came back to him with crutches of his own.

“My sprains should heal just when your legs do,” he teased and Tony would have smacked him if he wasn’t so busy hugging him.

Their first mission as a group was a mess, but a successful one, Pepper reminded them. No major injuries, a new networking opportunity with whatever this Coulson guy wanted, and the threat was eliminated. She was certain the next mission would be flawless with two Iron Men on the field.

Still, waiting felt impossible. 

“It’s been a year, James.” The weather conditions were finally perfect, not a cloud in the infinite sky above the ocean. Pepper had yelled at him a thousand times when he built this patio off the second story of the mansion. Health and safety, she’d said. That had been when he was drunk every other day, though. Still, every time she caught him sitting on the edge of the balcony like this, she was furious.

That’s why Tony waited until she was checking the preflight conditions with Jarvis to sneak away here. Rhodey didn’t mind the open ledge anymore, now that Tony was sober. It was nice to know where he could find his husband when he wasn’t in the usual spots.

“Yeah, it has.” Though he didn’t mind the ledge, he didn’t really like getting too close to it, sitting with his legs crossed under him a few feet away.

“What if…” but Tony trailed off, staring at his legs dangling a dozen stories above the jagged rocks of the cliff.

“I’ll be right here,” Rhodey said, but Tony tensed further. Rhodey didn’t push for answers, letting the sound of the warm wind rushing past their ears fill the space between them. Tony could hardly hold back from his husband for long.

“What if it’s not the same?”

“It won't be.”

Tony turned back towards him, pout at full force. “I thought you were supposed to be here for me?”

Rhodey held back a laugh. This was too important to fall for one of Tony’s easy distractions. “I am. I want you to do this. But T, you’ve got to know it’s going to be different than last time. For starters, the new design is… How exactly did you say it? So technologically better than anything ever made, has so much dexterity and finesse that it could—“

“Replace you in the bedroom? Yeah, and I still stand by that.” He won a small smile, but Tony was still tense.

“You wont be running for your life, you wont crash in the desert. You wont be alone.”

Tony reached back a hand to thread his fingers together with James’s, turning to look back at the horizon as James continued. “And not just me. Jarvis too. And Pepper, if you want to call her out of that meeting she doesn’t want to go to.”

“Nah, let her suffer. She made me sit through enough of them in my time.”

Rhodey let himself laugh and it felt even better to watch the last of Tony’s nerves fade away at the sound. “She’s done more in four months than you have in two decades.”

“Exactly, that’s why she got the job. Besides, I’ve got other commitments now.” He stood and his legs shook, but they held strong. “C’mon, let’s go before the sun sets.”

Rhodey rolled his eyes, but followed Tony back towards the house. “It’s hardly noon. You planning on jetting to New York for your first flight?”

Tony stopped in the doorframe, turning back to grin at him. Sunlight filtering through the windows of the house creating a halo around his face. The wind pulled at his already wild hair and his eyes were bright with mischief that had always dragged James along with him. Looking at him like this felt like falling in love all over again.

“Babe, I can promise you this. Once I get up there, I am never going to want to come down.”

Jarvis reported Pepper’s confirmation of the plan and the final pre-flight checks went smooth. The armor fit like a well loved glove. Rhodey gave him one last encouraging smile, before snapping down his faceplate and rocketing out the tunnel. When the roar faded away, Tony hesitated.

“Whenever you’re ready, sir,” Jarvis whispered on a private channel. The servers and circuitry hummed around him and Tony took one last steady breath. The first step forward was nearly a stumble, but then he was running like it was what he was born to do. He scorched the tunnel out of the garage, soaring up and up and up. He could hear Rhodey holler, cheering and asking Jarvis something about footage, but it all sounded distant. All he could hear was the rush of the sky and the scream of the thrusters. The whole world was endless and blue and clear. It was all his. All theirs! Whenever they wanted, this was theirs. Nothing and no one could take this away.

He slowed to a hover and let himself look at something other than the miles more he wanted to fly up. The California coast, the crashing waves, the merciless traffic further east. Tiny and far away and perfect and Tony never wanted to come down. The thrusters continued to stabilize, the wind was silent, and all he could hear was his own even breathing.

“Tony?”

And then he cut the power.

“Tony!” 

He let his arms go loose, falling head first. The world screamed at him, getting closer and closer, and laughter bubbled out of him, even as Rhodey cursed in his ear. When Jarvis gave him a few red flashing warnings on his display, he reengaged the thrusters. Tony looped around the silver Iron Pilot armor, letting himself corkscrew and twist, burning fuel just to do it. 

“You’re crazy!” James chased him through the sky, like the most expensive game of tag ever played. It only felt like minutes of soaring together, but the sky was tinting orange around them. They slowed, circling each other, and Tony lifted his faceplate.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” James was smiling when he’s own mask lifted.

“For doing this with me. For trusting me.”

“I always will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This sat in my drafts forever, but I'm really glad I'm finally posting it. Thanks for reading!!


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